


Watch Her Run

by PondAmyPond



Series: Watch Her Run [1]
Category: Chronicles of Narnia (Movies), Chronicles of Narnia - All Media Types, Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis
Genre: F/F, F/M, Narnia Prince Caspian AU, OC Insert AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-01
Updated: 2015-11-30
Packaged: 2018-05-04 07:03:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5324963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PondAmyPond/pseuds/PondAmyPond
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Francesca had never been afraid of a fight, and she'd always managed just fine on her own. Then she (literally) runs into Peter Pevensie on a train station platform and her life is changed forever. Not only does she get whisked away to Narnia on the adventure of a lifetime, but she may have finally met someone she doesn't want to run from. But can she and the Pevensies manage to win the battle so that she can have her happy ending? Or is it already too late?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Watch Her Run

The jeering faces of the crowd loomed over her in a menacing way, making her feel like she was an attraction at a zoo. Probably not a particularly nice zoo either. The pacing boy, circling around her like a lion about to pounce, was not exactly helping to erase the analogy.

            "All you have to do is apologise," he says, his voice sickly sweet, dripping with false hope and friendliness.

            "What am I apologising for?"

            "Well, you very rudely pushed me on my way to the platform, and I just don't think that's very nice of you," Billy's voice was growing thinner, the grating edge of a knife beginning to show through his words. _'Careful now'_ they seemed to say. _'The ice is getting thinner'_. He stepped even closer to her, encouraged by the shouts of the crowd, who were starting to itch for the beating they felt sure would ensure. Francesca could feel his breath on her face now, warm and sticky, leaving her feeling contaminated. Billy stopped in front of her face, bringing his eyes level with hers, and placed a hand on her cheek. Despite herself, Francesca let in a sharp breath. Mistakenly, Billy took this as an encouragement, and leaned in to whisper in her ear.

            "I'm sure you could think of some way to make it up to me," he growled, the implied meaning hanging in the air between them. As he moved back to take a look at her face, Francesca took a deep breath. And then she smiled.

            The smile was overly sweet, almost simpering, and she batted her eyelids at him so fast she was surprised she wasn't causing hurricanes in the narrow tunnel of the train station platform. Billy grinned at her, a horrible, possessive smile, and she felt a pang of hatred hit her in the stomach. Hiding her anger, she took a step in towards him, and the crowd drew in breath in unison. Billy was making this too easy, and his hungry eyes roamed over her body in ways that left her feeling completely violated. _Disgusting_. Placing a hand on each of his shoulders, Francesca drew Billy in close enough for her to whisper in his ear.

            "Never in a million years, you creep!" She told him with a smile, punctuating her sentence with a sharp movement of her right leg, bringing her knee up to meet his groin, his howl of pain a moment of satisfaction before she turned on her heels and ran towards the other end of the platform. In the shock of the moment, nobody else moved, and, grabbing up her satchel, she pushed through the stunned observers easily, all of them too mesmerised by the sight of the bully lying on the floor of the platform hugging himself and howling. However it wasn't more than twelve seconds before she heard the angry command of the humiliated Billy Connors.

            "Get her, you idiots!"

            Knowing that at least two of Billy's goons would be close behind her, Francesca pushed her head down and ploughed on into the throng of people on the platform. In fact she was so focused that she completely failed to notice the boy in front of her until she had collided with him headlong. With a crash she tumbled to the ground and her bag flew out of her hand. Papers floated down around her like confetti, as she raised her head to see the person who had so abruptly halted her escape.

            He was tall, like her older brother. His blond/brown hair was cut in a shaggy style, the fringe flopping into his startlingly blue eyes. His cheeks were spotted with the occasional freckle, like catching a glimpse of the stars through a gap in the clouds on an autumn evening. And his lips were curving themselves into a gentle smile as he looked back at her. He extends a hand and she gladly accepts it. As she stands up, she Francesca looks around at the mess of her papers, and then shrugs.

            "Oh well, I was failing that class anyway!" She grins at the tall boy, and he laughs. He laughs like a bubbling brook, all the sounds tripping over each other to be first, and the resulting cacophony somehow sounds like music.

            "Here, let me help," he said, bending down to pick up a few papers. Francesca wasn't expecting his voice to be so deep, like thick, rich honey. It made her stomach drop a bit, and she licked her lips, the way she always did when she was nervous. Searching for a distraction, she scrambleed to collect her satchel, and gratefully accepted the papers that the boy offered to her, stuffing them inside the chaotic depths of the bag without looking. They stood there looking at each other for a moment, neither wanting to break the magic. Unfortunately, while the world stood still between them, it continued turning everywhere else, and the roars of an angered bully came from behind Francesca, pulling her rudely back to reality.

            "Oh bother," she muttered, remembering the reason she ran into the beautiful boy in the first place. _Hang on, 'beautiful'? Nope, no time for that, deal with it later._

            "What did you do?" the boy asked, peering over her head at the crowd being forcibly parted by three angry boys, who at that moment in their rage and unfortunate physiques resembled a herd of charging gorillas.

            "I may or may not have caused Billy Connors a large amount of pain in a place no boy wishes to experience it." Francesca looked at the boy, her gaze partially hesitant, partially proud. The boy paused for a moment, and then the most dazzling smile spread over his face. Laughing a little he held out his hand again.

            "About time someone did, I reckon! Come on, I'll hide you." Francesca took his hand, and for a split second allowed herself to thrill at the electricity she felt pulsing between them. Then she was running again, the boy pulling her along behind him as her pushed them a path to the back end of the platform. He slowed as the neared a bench, where another boy and two girls were sitting together, a small pile of luggage next to them.

            "Ed, Lu, Susan!" the boy called out to the three on the bench. They looked up at the pair of fugitives, who stood for a second as they caught their breath. The boy had let go of Francesca's hand, but not before the youngest girl on the bench had noticed the contact and shot a quizzical look at her. The older girl stood up and looked behind them, trying to figure out why they had been running.

            "Peter, really! You promised no fighting this year!" The girl had placed her hands on her hips in the manner of a mother scolding her child. She was tall, but not excessively (about the same as Francesca actually), and her whole appearance had an air of exactness to it. Her hair was shoulder length, and dark, and it fell in waves that looked like they had been styled that way to stay there for all eternity. Her clothes were neat, the uniform of Saint Finbars School for Girls clearly recognisable. Her makeup was the perfect balance of pretty, but not over the top. Her frown should have felt odd on such a pretty face, but somehow Francesca got the impression that it wasn't an unusual expression for this girl.

            The boy held up his hands in mock protest. "Don't look at me, Sue! I wish I could take credit for kicking Billy Connors in the privates, but on this occasion, I can't!" He turned to grin at Francesca, and she felt a rush of warmth flower in her chest at the shared camaraderie.

            "Did you really?! Oh jolly good! I only wish I could have seen it!" That was the other boy, a mischievous grin plastered on his freckled face. His dark hair and dark eyes gave him an air of vaguely mysterious loneliness that Francesca guessed drove most girls crazy. He was wearing the Hendon House uniform, but it was scruffy; shirt untucked, tie loose and not straight, and his blazer looked a little big as if it hadn't been bought for him. Francesca liked him immediately, especially as she guessed his appearance drove the older girl (Susan, right?) insane.

            "Oh for goodness' sake, Edmund, I'm sure you've seen enough fights to last you a lifetime!" Susan reprimanded, with a hint of something in her voice that Francesca couldn't quite place.

            "Are they still after her, Peter?" the youngest girl piped up. She was short, much more so than the others. But her round face was kind, and her eyes sparkled with an adventurous sort of spirit. Her eyebrows were furrowed in concern, and she looked up at Peter as if he could protect her from anything that might come to get them.

            _Peter_. Francesca jolted when she realised she now had a name to go with the beautiful face. _Beautiful, again? You're going to need an intervention soon._ The name suited him, strong and powerful. Like a knight in shining armour. _Oh for goodness' sake..._

            "No, Lucy, I think we're okay now." Peter smiled at the younger girl gently. Then he turned back to Francesca suddenly, as if he had just remembered something very important. "Gosh, sorry, how rude of me! I forgot to introduce myself earlier! I'm Peter, and  these are my sisters, Lucy and Susan, and my brother, Edmund," he explained, gesturing to the relevant person as he spoke their name.

            Lucy came forward and held out her hand. "It's lovely to meet you." Francesca felt a warm rush of affection for the younger girl, and shook her hand.

            "Likewise," she replied, flashing Lucy a small smile. She stood looking around at the siblings, and found herself feeling something she never felt. Safe. The friendly (well, mostly friendly. Susan didn't seem too impressed with Peter bringing home a stray) faces made her feel like part of something, a feeling that she had only had once before in her life. _Maybe I've found a new home, Mum_...

            "Not to be rude, but you do have us at a bit of a disadvantage," Susan was frowning again.

            "Sorry?" Francesca hadn't a clue what the other girl was talking about.

            "Well, you know our names, but we don't know yours," Susan finished, leaving a pointed silence hanging in the air.

            "Oh, right! Oops!" Francesca giggled, deliberately not answering the non-question to irritate Susan, whom she felt could do with a sense of humour. Edmund grinned at Peter behind Susan's back, and Lucy stifled a snort of laughter behind her hand.

            "Well?" Susan pushed, her obliviousness to the gentle joke at her expense making it practically impossible for her sister to hide her mirth, and Lucy burst into giggles.

            "Oh Sue! Ask nicely, why can't you?" Peter chided his sister softly.

            "My name's Fr-"

            Francesca's answer was cut off my a loud squeal from Lucy. "OUCH! EDMUND!"

            "I didn't do anything!" her brother protested.

            "Well, somebody pinched me!" Lucy insisted. Before the argument could go any further, Peter leapt away from his sister in a sudden lurch of movement.

            "Susan! What are you playing at?!" he exclaimed.

            "LUCY I SAID I DIDN'T PINCH YOU, THERE'S NO NEED TO RETALLIATE!" Edmund squawked. Suddenly a rumbling sound filled the hollow space of the train station, growing louder and louder until it was a bellowing roar. Lucy grabbed Edmund's hand and started tugging him away from the edge of the platform. Francesca watched the sides of the platform start to shake, the tiles splintering and peeling away from the walls in bursts of green shrapnel that always seemed to just miss the little group of five.

            "WHAT'S GOING ON?" She shouted to be heard above the roaring noise.

            "IT'S MAGIC! IT FEELS LIKE MAGIC!" Lucy shouted back, joyously. Susan had by this time joined the little chain of people, her hand cemented into her sisters, and she reached out to grab hold of Peter too. Francesca didn't understand. Magic?! But for some reason, she wasn't panicking in the manner one might expect from someone who just discovered magic was real by being thrown straight into the middle of it (although really how else would one believe that magic really exists?). And she wasn't afraid. She was excited.

            "HOLD ON!" Peter's voice yelled above the roaring, and Francesca noticed him reaching out his hand towards her. Stretching out to take it, she saw him register the jolt of electricity as their skin connected this time. He turned his face to look at her, and as his sparkling blue eyes met her deep green ones, they were full of wonder.


End file.
